American students increasingly look for programs outside U.S. to broaden horizons

More American students are choosing to study abroad to enrich their education, with the United Kingdom remaining the top destination.

Nationally, the number of U.S. students who studied abroad increased 3 percent to 283,332 students in 2011-12, according to the Institute of International Education.

Other leading destinations included Italy, Spain, France and China. Officials said there was a 28 percent increase in students going to Japan once study-abroad programs resumed after being shut down following the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

The University of San Diego was ranked No. 3 in the nation for undergraduate participation in study-abroad programs by the institute’s annual “Open Doors” report. The ranking is based on 850 of USD’s undergraduate students in 2011-12 participating in a study-abroad program compared with the 1,239 students who earned degrees that year.

Kira Espiritu, director of international studies abroad at USD, said students are entering college very interested in studying in other countries and wanting to become global citizens. Many begin asking questions about opportunities to study in other countries when they tour the campus as prospective students.

She said there were 936 undergraduate students from USD who studied abroad in 2012-13.

“We want to develop students who go out into the world and can be globally competent,” Espiritu said. “As part of a well-rounded liberal arts education, they need to understand the world around them. I think that speaks to the way the university see its purpose in terms of what we are supposed to be giving to students when they come here.”

San Diego State University sent 1,815 students abroad last year and is seeing more interest in shorter summer and winter-break programs for students who find it difficult to take off for a semester or year. Students recognize that their international experiences can help them with future careers and be a vital part of their overall education, said Alan Sweedler, SDSU’s assistant vice president for international programs and a physics professor.

“The value is they directly experience living and sometimes working in a foreign culture and many times in a foreign language,” Sweedler said. “That gives them direct experience on how people do business, how people interact with each other, what the cultural norms are. They get to hear lectures from professors from different parts of the world and it broadens their perspective enormously.”

Kirk Simmons, UC San Diego’s dean of international education, said his school is creating a new short-term experience that could have students visit foreign cities for a one- or two-week period after studying a subject at the La Jolla campus for a quarter.

Such “embedded programs” could appeal to those worried about graduating in a timely manner or concerned about costs, Simmons said.